Josh Pool

Read how Jesus and Paul make the gospel’s advance an urgent matter in our prayers: 

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ (2 Thess 3.1-5). 

Stand, therefore…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak (Eph 6.18-20). 

And he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Luke 10.2). 

These prayers align well with what we’ve studied recently: hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6.9-10). How is God’s name hallowed? How does his kingdom spread? When is his will kept on the earth?  One major answer: As the good news of Jesus Christ takes root in the souls of sinners both near and far. Salvation through Christ is the one of the purest expressions of God’s glory on the earth. There is nothing like the dead coming to life and the lost being found. All of heaven rejoices every time a sinner becomes a saint (Luke 15.7, 10).

In fact, this is how Paul speaks of the church—the redeemed—in Eph 3.10, 21: through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known…to [God] be glory in the church. The Church, past and present, is God’s glory on display. God’s invisible kingdom is made visible through local churches all around the world—the kingdom of heaven expressed in part through its outposts on the earth.

So then, as we pray for God’s glory on the earth, we’ll begin to pray for that glory in conversion, evangelism, and global missions. Our prayers receive a new center of gravity. A desire for individual converts and visible churches translates into frequent and fervent prayers for missions. Our hearts begin to break for the lost. We begin to think of the billions who don’t know him. We shudder at the lost that live so close, even in our own homes and workplaces. The name of Jesus simultaneously becomes the greatest joy of our hearts and the cause for prayers to see others come to know him: a love for God, and a love for neighbor—the Great Commission fueled by the Great Commandment. Once missions becomes a dominant player in our daily life and thinking, it’ll make a frequent appearance in our prayer closets.

And not only because it matters to us, but also because we believe in its power. We’re committed to missional prayer because prayer works! In Eph 6.18-20 (above), Paul wants more than the Ephesians’ encouragement in prayer. He wants their effectiveness in prayer. He believes that their prayers will truly do something. Their words to God will propel his words to kings, governors, jailers, and Gentiles. Prayer is at the center of effective missions.

So then: Before someone takes one step on the mission field, he should run miles in prayer for the nations. Lord willing, CBC will be a conveyor belt for pastors and missionaries, sending God’s servants across our city, region, and the world. But let’s not be so naive to think that God will raise them up if we do not teach them to pray. A heart for the nations is grown in the soil of a church’s missional prayers. They need to hear the Bible’s emphasis on missions; they need to sense our love for missions; they need to see tangible examples of our missional prayers being answered. If our prayers are focused on the nations, we’re more likely to send members to the nations. The opposite is also true.

This is our invitation, church family: to be a church that prays for Christ’s name to be lifted high across the world; for his name to become our most prized possession and our most desperate prayer. We want his glory; therefore, let’s grow in our yearning for missions.

How To Pray

Let’s start small, if you’d like! Pick a day or two of the week to cry out to God for gospel needs we see. For many of us, a specific list of missionaries, agencies, nations, and regions is useful to give us topics, words, and focus.

Specifically pray for evangelistic efforts among our members. Generally, pray that we will grow in evangelism. Pray for evangelistic encounters in your own life. Pray for ones you’ve heard about from others. Pray for more formal outreaches our members get involved with: Living Bridges, Options Now, LAMP, and more.

Pray for other churches!! One of the best ways to gain a missional mindset is to pray for the gospel faithfulness and fruitfulness of other churches in our city. When you pass by that church every day on the way home from work, pray for them, their pastor, and their ministries. Pray for the churches we’ve worshipped together with recently. Pray for churches from other faithful, gospel-preaching denominations.

Also pray for our missions partners and agencies. Pray that God will use our resources in NAMB, IMB, RTIM, SRV Global. Pray for the work of missionaries we know (e.g. Mark Overstreet, Derek Bass, Bryan Rubio). Pray for more missions work. Pray for missionaries to rise up from within our ranks. Pray for missionaries to be raised up from Valdosta.

Lastly, pray for nations, tribes, and people groups. Pray for those who are reached that they’d be healthy. Pray for those that are unreached that they would get the gospel. Operation World, The Joshua Project, and Voice of the Martyrs are great resources for a local church member to get a glimpse of the desperate gospel needs in our world.